Idyllic Interludes

by lollipopchica

Chapter 12

“Hey Armor,” a fellow police pony called. “You got a guest up front waiting for you.”

Shining Armor nodded in acknowledgement as he went about squaring away his desk. Two minutes later he was on his way out the door. When he finally exited the police station he took in the lone figure of an embarrassed looking Twilight.

“Hey,” she greeted with a tight smile.

The older sibling groaned before rolling his eyes and proceeded to walk right by her.

“How many times do I have to apologize?” Twilight whined as Shining Armor continued to ignore her. “I said I was sorry!” She awkwardly fell into step with the annoyed stallion.

“That’s not the point Twilight.” The eldest stated with a scowl on his face. “You really hurt her when you said those things.”

“With all due respect I don’t even ‘know’ her!” Her face scrunched into disbelief at his defense of the other.

“Which makes it worse!” He exclaimed, pausing only to showcase a bewildered expression that said ‘are you crazy.’ “I can’t believe you! What you did was not only childish and irresponsible, but it was completely uncalled for!”

“What was I supposed to do?!” Twilight cried out feeling annoyed herself. “I don’t hear from you in weeks, and then when I do it’s to tell our family that you’re doing something you promised you’d never do again! What did you think would happen?”

“Certainly not for my sister to badmouth the mare I’m in-love with to the local paper of all places.”

Twilight halted in mid thought. ‘Wait. What?’ Her brain short circuited. “You love her?“ She sounded so offended that Shining Armor chose to roll his eyes instead of responding. An action that coupled with his previous statement only seemed to incite more antagonism from his beloved sister. “You barely even know her! She’s got you fooled, I know it. You’ve never gone against our family like this before.”

“ She’s not some villainess mind controlling me to want her. This isn’t some weird Saturday morning cartoon. I’m a policepony because ‘I’ want to be. She gains absolutely nothing from it. In fact it keeps me away from her sometimes. I’ve waited for a while to make things right with Chrystal. These past few weeks have been hard enough for her and then ’you’ happen in the worst possible way!”

“Hey!”

“I love you Twilight. More than anything. You’re my only sister, my best friend forever, but I won’t stand for even you hurting her the way you did. Do you understand?”

“What are you saying? You want me to leave?”

Shining Armor shook his head ‘no.’ “I’m saying, I love you and I want to be able to share all my brightest news with you.”

“You can!” Twilight argued with glassy eyes.

“And I can’t do that if you can’t accept and support my decisions. You don’t have to like them. It’d be silly for me to expect you to. I just need to know that I can come to you no matter what and you’ll still be there for me.”

“Okay…” She croaked choosing to concede for the moment.

“Do you mean it?”

She nodded with a grimace. She still didn’t like any of this, but it wasn’t worth her brother’s anger.

“Then I forgive you.” He yanked her into his side in a one-armed hug. Twilight looked up at him to see him staring back with a soft smile she grudgingly returned. “What’re you doing here anyway?” He asked all of a sudden.

“Friendship is magic apparently, ponies are really starting to respond to Celestia’s campaign. I’m here to help organize-“

The stallion promptly tuned out confident his sister would leave well-enough alone at least for now.

*-3333-*

It took a few months but, much to everypony's relief, Twilight's idea pulled through as the public's opinion swayed in Chrysalis' favor. It also helped that Rainbow Dash was a genius when it came to publicity and image control. With a few key events and charitable appearances thrown in for good measures the roles were starting to come in again. Even Cadance had pitched in with positive remarks in her interviews.

Despite Twilight’s help, she was still distrustful of the younger mare. A sentiment that Twilight obviously shared as both kept their distance from the other.

Her relationship with her formerly estranged sister was getting better and better and Shining Armor had moved in with her as the two settled into a life that was pleasantly domesticated.

So much was changing and the Canterlot-borne actress was happier than she'd ever been. She had true friends, a job she loved and a stallion that was everything she wanted.

Life was good.

That night she planned a grand supper for her colt-friend. Jedzia came over with her daughter in tow to help her cook.

Chrysalis was supposed to help, but she ended up watching as her best friend whisked around her kitchen while her daughter mimicked her actions. "Help me with the sauce Zendaya?" The little filly sprang into action making the other smile at the interaction.

"Kirai will be stopping by next week if you wanna grab lunch," Jedzia offered as she took a small break in her movements.

"Sounds good," Chrysalis said absently as she watched Zendaya with a soft smile.

Jedzia couldn't help but snicker. She'd never thought of her friend as maternal or domestic, but here she was looking to be both.

It seemed that somepony was in want of a family.

*-3333-*

The dinner she planned for herself and Shining Armor was supposed to be a joyous affair. Jedzia cooked so she knew the meal was flawless, Rarity setup the dining room so presentation was a plus as well. She’d even donned a new dress and tried a new hairstyle, not that Shining Armor was vain, but change could be interesting.

Despite all these things her colt-friend seemed not to notice as he sat opposite of her with a dark expression on his face. She watched him with a mix of agitation and concern. She talked about Jedzia and Zendaya and how they’d spent the afternoon together. The more she prattled, the more tense Shining Armor became. She was about to ask him if he was alright when the stallion abruptly stood and excused himself from the table. Moments later she heard the front door slam causing her to jump.

“What just happened?” She vocalized to herself with a bewildered expression on her face.

It took a few hours for him to come back home, but when he did she wasted no time jumping in his face.

“What’s going on with you?” She demanded feeling both upset and concerned. She’d never seen him so detached before. “You’ve been weird all day and then you just leave without a word!”

“I want a family, Chryssie…”

“What?” She’d prepared herself for a fight, but this was the last thing she expected. Chrysalis took a step back as she stared up at him with a furrowed brow. “Shining?” Her voice much more subdued.

Cerulean eyes darkened as a he thought back on the scene he’d left hours ago. “A filly died tonight…” He breathed haggardly. Chrysalis’s chest constricted in a painful pulse of muscle as the news cut her deeply. While she wouldn’t describe herself as maternal she had a soft spot for foals. That’s why he was so tense, she thought wishing he’d told her earlier. Hearing about Zendaya must’ve taken him back to the scene of a crime. “All I could think about was her family. They probably thought they had all the time in the world. She hadn’t even got a chance at life yet.” Chrysalis blinked as she thought of Sienna. She had been young too.

Storm cloud eyes locked on her. “I don’t want that to happen to us.” He towered over her as he advanced on her with a serious expression on his scarred face. “I want a life with you,” Shining Armor murmured the words in her ear before pressing feather-light kisses down the curve of her jaw. Chrysalis closed her eyes trembling when his lips brushed over hers. “A little girl…” He smiled absently against her lips. “With your attitude.” He kissed her softly on the mouth before engaging her in a deeper caress of lips. “Somewhere that isn’t this soulless city… Tell me you don’t think about us having that.” Chrysalis absently murmured his name as he painted a picture perfect family for the two of them.

Gemma… she’d always liked that name.

A little filly. Their filly. She could see them at her shows waving and smiling in the crowd, or at an important promotion at Shining Armor’s station. Her filly cheering for her father…

“Marry me?”

Harlequin eyes snapped open besieged by shimmering orbs of cerulean as she leaned back to read her coltfriend. His snow white features were unwavering as longing and urgency stained his visage.

Her family.

Her husband.

“With my ‘charm’ she’d have to have your coloring…” She grinned up at him with a shyness that was uncharacteristic of her nature. Without another word he fused their lips together in a kiss that tattooed its mark upon her heart.

It was nothing short of bliss this melding of lips.

Author's Note:

This story is wrapping up nicely, I think. Just a few more chapters and this will be complete!

However, I offer you guys a choice for the next chapter: time jump or dinner with the Sparkle family? The choice is yours, however if no one really cares- I'll just do what I had originally planned.

Thank you guys for sticking around if you're still around! As always feedback is appreciated and I hope you guys have enjoyed so far.

-lolli c.

Comments

[changlinggod45]

dinner with the sparkles

[Razzy]

D'awwww x2~

'“ She’s not some villainess mind controlling me to want her' - "She's

[RegMoDII]

“And I can’t do that if you can’t accept and support my decisions. You don’t have to like them. It’d be silly for me to expect you to. I just need to know that I can come to you no matter what and you’ll still be there for me.”

Twilight is the epidimy of doublespeak in this story. She works for the political party dedicated to friendship yet she does everything in her power to ruin her own brother's

[RegMoDII]

“Friendship is magic apparently, ponies are really starting to respond to Celestia’s campaign. I’m here to help organize-“

This compartmentalization and treating a real, tangible, undeniably good thing as nothing more than a campaign slogan is holding her back and hurting her relationships.